Massdrop Announces Dan Durston X Mid Tent: 2 People, 2 hiking poles, 28 oz, $199

[Katherine .]

Not sure about “Stormy Weather” as a good theme for a wedding, but hey, it’s fitting for a shelter!

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

I got the first pre-production tent today :)

[Graham F]

Dan you bugger, don’t tease me!!

I am first or second in line! Waiting in Australia, waiting….

What are you saying?  Is the eagle about to leave the nest?

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

There are still many many steps to the production process. Production is on track for delivery in the spring.

[Graham F]

Autumn for us Dan,  but I’m looking forward to it nonetheless.

[Alex Wallace]

Your name is on the stuff sack!? Now that’s just cool.

[Gerry B.]

Dan,  What are the dimensions of that sweet little bundle?

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Hi Gerry,

The stuff sack is designed to be short enough to store horizontally in any pack. So it’s about 11-12″ long but can compress a bit further if needed since there are no struts or poles. The width of the stuff sack is 4.5 – 6″ depending how much you squeeze it.

[Kevin Babione]

I was on a trip with some other BPLers this weekend in the Dolly Sods Wilderness in WV and I mentioned that I’ve almost pulled the trigger on this tent several times.  They looked at me like I was nuts:  I’ve been sleeping in a hammock for the past seven years!  It’s just such a great design I just want to have one!

Thanks for keeping all of us (even those of us who haven’t committed) updated.  Maybe next time it a drop opens…

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Thanks for the kind words Kevin.

I don’t know what Massdrops exact plans are, but I suspect they’ll open it up for another drop before too long. They’ve ordered about 1000 tents and we’ve pre-sold 670 now (via 2 drops) so there’s a good chance that a 3rd drop will sell out the production run and then no more tents for a while. My guess is that they’ll open it up in mid-November for a few weeks. If you “request” the product on the X-Mid page then you’ll get a notification when the drop opens.

[Graham F]

I just had a custom 30 litre rucksack ( Wilderness Threadworks Sonder) made for UL mild weather loads up to about 4 days and got it made slightly wider, by 2 centimetres, so it would fit my duplex in horizontally (it does at the top nicely) and the xmid will take its spot in any dodgy weather. I checked the packed specs Dan listed carefully so it would go in horizontally. It will. The fact the xmid  is a wee bit malleable, no struts again was another clincher for me. Dan do you think the 2 person xmid when it comes out after the 1 person will have roughly the same packed dimensions as the Duplex? Always planning ahead! Circumference length ways is about 92cms when stashed at the top of my Sonder. Cheers.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

“Do you think the 2 person xmid when it comes out after the 1 person will have roughly the same packed dimensions as the Duplex?”

I got the first prototype of the 2P last week. I’ve only set it up once because of a whirlwind of stuff with the 1P, but it’s looking pretty sweet. Surprisingly good for a first prototype. Of course lots of little things to fix.

Currently the stuff sack is a more traditional shape because I didn’t specify anything in the drawings so the factory just did the usual thing. However I’d really like it to store horizontally so for the next prototype I’ll specify a shorter/thicker one and hopefully that works well. It might be bordering on a bit too thick, but I hope it’s not unreasonable. Probably something like 12″ long by 7-8″ thick (30cm long by 20cm diameter, so I guess that’s a lengthwise circumference of 90 – 100cm roughly).

I’m not familiar with the packed size of the Duplex, but DCF is bulky so despite the X-Mid 2P being a double wall and a bit larger overall, I think the packed volume will be similar to the Duplex.

[JCH]

This is comming from an OG Duplex disciple…I would almost certainly jump on a 2-P X Mid with a quickness!

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Working hard on it :)

At the risk of getting a plethora of contrasting opinions, anyone want to comment on their preferred trade-off of having enough floor area versus keeping the tent footprint reasonable?

Right now the X-Mid 2P has a fairly large footprint (very similar to the HMG UltaMid2) and the inner tent has very generous length (92″), generous height (48″) but only average floor width (47″, but with vertical side walls so that width is preserved all the way up). I could shrink the footprint a bit but it would come at the cost of the floor dimensions.

[Mole J]

Dan

The 2 person model sounds intriguing.

I’d be interested in seeing the XMid 2 overlay  rotated over the Strat 2 so the inner tents line up.

We currently use a Stratospire 2 and find it just right inner wise but it could lose a few inches width if necessary. It is on the edge of being too large for sometimes on mountain pitches.

[Iago Vazquez]

I would say keep it as is. 47″ doesn’t fit 2 wide pads. My guess with vertical walls is that they can be squeezed and be fine taking into account the extra length. Most folks that worry about footprint on a two person tent also seem to have a preference for self-standing tents or at least semi. Just my user impressions. I don’t know anything about tent design. Loving what you have done with it though.

[Ethan A.]

Dan you already know my preference from our discussions on the subject, but I’ll chime in here too as another person eagerly awaiting the X-Mid 2P and as someone who tried to get tent makers to make a similar side-entry trekking pole supported tent for me (except for the diagonal slant of the inner).

I’ve used 2P tents that are 51-52 in. rectangular as well as 2P tents that are 42-47 in. Much prefer 50 in. width. First, you can fit two wide pads, which aren’t just more comfortable but also nicer in winter especially for pads with some edge collapse like the NeoAir series.

Second, even if you don’t use 20 in. pads, it’s really nice to have 25 in. space per person especially if you aren’t with a significant other (actually if you’re with an SO too), if it’s colder when you have higher lofting bags and quilts and more insulating clothing and if you’re two larger people.

If the inner floor width is 47 in., I don’t know if the walls will give enough for two 25 in. pads without stressing the inner seems, but Dan can chime in on this. Also keep in mind that it’s not uncommon for production models to come in a little narrower than planned.

I appreciate there are always design trade offs for shelters but I think 50 in. is far more flexible and practical for most people and well worth the bit of vestibule and weight.

[Roger Caffin]

Stop and think a bit. You could be spending 12 hours in the tent, in bad weather or sub-zero weather. Which would you prefer: save an ounce or two, OR get a good comfortable night’s sleep?

Maybe it does not matter if you only camp in lowlands and in the ‘Sierra Summer’.

Cheers

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

“I’d be interested in seeing the X-Mid 2 overlay rotated over the Strat 2 so the inner tents line up.”

Here you go. Currently the 2P is a bit longer while the SS2 is a bit wider:

“Much prefer 50 in. width…If the inner floor width is 47 in., I don’t know if the walls will give enough for two 25 in. pads without stressing the inner seems. Also keep in mind that it’s not uncommon for production models to come in a little narrower than planned.”

Yeah floors do often come in narrower than spec. I’m trying to be accurate to the true dimensions (the actual drawings are currently 48″) but it’s not a black and white thing since the floor gets wider or narrower as depending on how high you lift up the inner (the inner connects via webbing and adjustable buckles). It might be able to go to 50″ now. Come to think of it, the inner was cranked up quite high when I measured it at 47″ so it probably can do 50″ fairly easily. I really need to set it up again and play around with it more.

“You could be spending 12 hours in the tent, in bad weather or sub-zero weather. Which would you prefer: save an ounce or two, OR get a good comfortable night’s sleep?”

I was wondering about floor area versus having a tent that may be too large to fit into some sites, not trying to save an ounce. I just don’t want it so large that it’s cumbersome to use for folks that aren’t camping in open country.

[Graham F]

Dan that is almost exactly the dimensions of the Duplex. Ta for that, and in metric (put it first -c’mon you Canucks are up with the civilised world aren’t you). I would be all over a 2 person Xmid for exactly the reasons Roger states-space in shitty (even potentially) weather. I will still be UL I reckon with it or close enough not to worry me.

Just have to check the real estate it would take up. The absolute beauty of the one person is it can go just about anywhere. As I don’t scout ahead spots and never use established flat areas and camp often under the tree line this is my only concern-The Xmid 2 looks so sweet.

One and a half Xmid in DCF “PANTONE-bingo!! Sweet compromise and the perfect one person shelter!

Would it be sell the duplex time?

[Boyan B]

Amen on Roger’s comment. I will gladly carry 8 extra oz if that is the price I have to pay for a tall entry door and a spacious inner.

[Gumbo]

The trade off isn’t about ounces, it’s about footprint…

Personally, it’s a pet peeves of mine the number of tents that can’t handle 2 wide pads (looking at you, 47″ Duplex). Plaudits to YMG Cirriform 2P SW, which tapers but can handle 2 large mummies.

 

[William Chilton]

It’s not unusual for us to be camping somewhere where it’s difficult to squeeze in our Duplex or Swiftline, so I would be happier with a smaller footprint; I could certainly live with less than 92″ in length, but then I’m not unusually tall. (The Swiftline claims 84-90″ in length, the Duplex 90″.)

Either way I’d be in for one, contingent on the state of the Turkish economy come time to order.

@redgum We’ve had no problem fitting 2 Klymit Insulated Static Vs (25″ wide) in the Duplex but we do pitch it with a pole height much lower than recommended by Zpacks.

 

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

I certainly appreciate all the feedback, even if it is clear that I won’t be able to please everyone.

The reason for the 92″ length is so that two sleepers can truly sleep side by side (below right). If I make it shorter then the sleepers end up staggered/offset a bit (below left). Perhaps not a big deal, but the far opposite corners of the parallelogram shaped inner are also the lowest areas, so the long inner gives good headroom throughout the sleeping area plus a bit of lower area at the corners for gear storage.

The X-Mid geometry doesn’t lend itself that well to generously wide floors for complicated reasons (e.g. if I wanted the floor to be even wider then I’d also need to make it longer if I still wanted two people to be able to sleep side by side). But I’ll see if I can squeak out a few more inches of width to get to 50″. There are a few variables I can tweak.

“Plaudits to YMG Cirriform 2P SW, which tapers but can handle 2 large mummies.”
Per Yama’s website the Cirriform 2P SW appears to be 46″ tapering to 43″. Are you saying you can fit two large tapered pads in this? Or am I missing something?

[Mole J]

Thanks Dan, for the swift response

And for the willingness to engage with people in this process.

We use one wide and one standard mat, ( and trying to persuade my partner to go back to standard…)  So,  selfishly I’m happy with your current width!  But understand that fitting 2 wide mats in is optimal for widest sales. We sleep head to toe if on any sort of slope as I prefer head down, ( and, I’d do that if sharing with a non-partner anyhow) so for me staggered mats is a minor issue.

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